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Polio infantile paralysis was until recently a greatly feared disease, but is now preventable by a vaccine, which has largely eradicated it from the Western hemisphere; a global eradication campaign is underway. This book tells of the story of polio in fascinating and personal detail, through a series of essays written by those who experienced the disease: its victims, those who cared for them and those who worked to eliminate it altogether.The opening chapter recounts the history of polio from its earliest depiction in Egyptian art to the present day; it is followed by three personal descriptions of the experiences of patients who were paralysed in youth by polio, but went on to build successful lives. The challenges of caring for polio sufferers are described by two physicians who worked on polio wards at the height of the epidemic. The story of the cultivation of poliovirus and the testing of the vaccines is related by two research scientists who devoted much of their careers to the laboratories where the breakthroughs were achieved. The final essays describe the public health vaccination campaigns which successfully eradicated polio from the Americas, as experienced by those who directed them.Dr THOMAS M. DANIEL is Professor Emeritus of Medicine and International Health and Director of the Center for International Health at Case Western Reserve University; Dr FREDERICK C. ROBBINS is University Professor and Dean Emeritus of the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University.Contributors:THOMAS M. DANIEL, FREDERICK C. ROBBINS, MICHAEL W.R. DAVIS, ANN L. MCLAUGHLIN, RUTH E. FRISCHER, ROBERT M. EIBEN, MARTHA LIPSON LEPOW, JOAO BAPTISTA RISI, JR., CIRO A. DE QUADROS

The history of poliomyelitis, Thomas M. Daniel and Frederick C. Robbins; personal memoir from the 1944 Kentucky polio epidemic, Michael W.R. Davis; one couple's journey from paralysis to post polio, Ann McLaughlin; waiting for society to catch up, Ruth E. Frischer; polio and the making of a doctor, Thomas M. Daniel; the polio experience and the twilight of the contagious disease hospital, Robert M. Eiben; reminiscences of a virologist, Frederick C. Robbins; love in the virus lab, Martha Lipson Lepow; poliomyelitis in Brazil, Joao Baptista Risi Jr; on towards victory, Ciro A. de Quadros.